Theatre, film & music

Are these the seven best independent bookshops in Britain? A writer makes her case

Indices to Country Life articles

The Country Life Index of articles is all articles published by Country Life, since 1897, in one place.

What price culture? £380 to see Taylor Swift — or £12 for a night at the Royal Opera

Country Life's cultural crusader Athena takes a look at the thorny issue of live music ticket prices  — and how the habits of concert-goers today show that the struggles of classical music and opera to find an audience run far deeper than mere cost.

Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers turns 30

Not all heroes wear capes, some are more likely to put on the wrong trousers and ask their dog if he wants ‘more cheese’. Harry Pearson meets Wallace and Gromit, two of our best-loved Plasticine characters.

The BBC Proms are the most ambitious, eclectic and successful classical music festival in the world — and we should celebrate them

The Proms are a great British institution and a remarkable success story, says Country Life's cultural commentator Athena.

Henley Festival: 13 things you'll see at the 'posh Glastonbury'

Revellers in ball gowns and dinner jackets, turning up on board £200,000 boats to dance and party while knocking back magnums of vintage champagne? It can only be the extraordinary Henley Festival, the high-end musical extravaganza that's a sort of Glastonbury-on-Thames for the (very) well heeled. We sent Emma Earnshaw along to see what it was like.

The best open air theatres in Britain

Amid the sweet chestnuts, walnuts and cobnuts of a Suffolk farm, a natural amphitheatre has been transformed into a glorious sylvan venue for touring companies to tread Nature’s boards. Jo Cairdv pays a visit to the mesmerising Thorington Theatre, and picks out three more of the finest outdoor performance venues in Britain.

Thorington Theatre: How a WW2 bomb crater in Suffolk became one of Britain's most beautiful theatres

Amid the sweet chestnuts, walnuts and cobnuts of a Suffolk farm, a natural amphitheatre has been transformed into a glorious sylvan venue for touring companies to tread Nature’s boards, finds Jo Caird.

William Shakespeare: The original Nature boy

William Shakespeare wasn’t only the greatest playwright of our history, he was an avid ornithophile, a green man and a master of transposing the true power of Nature onto the page, says John Lewis-Stempel.

The 2023 summer outdoor opera season: Where to go, who to watch, and what to put in your picnic hamper

Henrietta Bredin, deputy editor of Opera magazine, shares her tips on how to make the most of the outdoor opera season in Britain this summer.

The day Elton John invaded the Cotswolds

As Elton John’s Rocket Records celebrates its 50th anniversary, former NME editor Steve Sutherland remembers the very boozy launch party, held in the unlikely, but charming Cotswolds setting of Moreton-in-Marsh.

J.R.R. Tolkien: The life and times of the lord of the books

From a sentence born of an exhausting teaching job, J. R. R. Tolkien crafted a series of fantastical novels that, 50 years on from his death, still loom as large in our imagination as Sauron’s all-seeing eye, says Matthew Dennison.

How 'levelling-up' in the Arts has backfired for regional theatres: 'It's the guillotine, not the salami-slicer'

London and the South of England have long been the primary beneficiaries of Arts funding, but is the Government’s latest plan to ‘level up’ actually doing the opposite? Claire Jackson investigates.

The first-ever vinyl LP turns 75 this year

Music-lovers who replaced their records with CDs three decades ago can still barely believe vinyl's unlikely resurgence — but the fresh interest in this old medium is still going as the first ever vinyl LP turns 75. Martin Fone charts the history of vinyl long-play records.

Who wrote the Christmas Carols we know and love? 11 songs and their stories, from Silent Night to Good King Wenceslas

Many of our best-loved and most moving Christmas carols started life as poems in search of a tune. Andrew Green uncovers the writers whose works were nearly forgotten, yet are now imprinted on the memory.

In Focus: The enduring appeal of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's 'The Phantom of the Opera'

Jack Watkins tells the tale of one of the West End's most iconic musicals, and how The Phantom of the Opera evolved from an obscure novel and largely forgotten films to become a global sensation.

The 21st century sword maker: 'There’s something appealing about getting metal hot and smacking it with a hammer'

Practising ancient techniques to craft modern heirlooms, bladesmith Owen Bush handmakes both decorative and practical knives or weaponry, each with their own personalities, says Claire Jackson — with some of his swords celebrities in their own right. Photographs by Richard Cannon for Country Life.

Who wrote 'God Save The King'? The extraordinary tale of the British national anthem

What are the origins of our national anthem? John Goodall investigates the extraordinary story behind both the tune and the words, as well as their influence on other nations.

In Focus: What happens behind the scenes at the Proms

Floods, nerves and piano tuning — Henrietta Bredin goes backstage at the world’s biggest music festival, an epic feat of logistical planning.

Curious Questions: What is it like to sing at a royal coronation in Westminster Abbey?

The choristers at the Coronation are now in their eighties, but recall vividly the day they sang for The Queen, as Andrew Green discovers.